This invention relates to textured yarn. In one of its aspects this invention relates to the texturing of partially oriented yarn. In another of its aspects this invention relates to knitting machines having a positive feed mechanism that assures the yarn is fed to the needle cylinder a positive rate without slippage. In another of its aspects this invention relates to yarn that is intermittently stretched into thick and thin portions. In yet another of its aspects this invention relates to fabrics knitted from intermittently drawn partially oriented yarns. In yet another of its aspects this invention relates to textured yarns produced by deknitting fabrics produced by knitting thick-thin yarns. In yet another of its aspects this invention relates to novel dye effects produced with this yarn.
The present invention partially oriented yarn is knitted on a knitting machine that has a positive feed. Knitting machines that feed the yarn into the needle cylinder at a positive rate without slippage are well-known in the art. The art provides apparatus and method in which a plurality of yarn packages supply yarn through a combination of guides, tension devices, and a positive feeding device to a knitting machine. One form of this device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,887 in which a plurality of toothed wheels, each of which is rotatable on a shaft, is driven by a matching toothed belt from a power unit so that the toothed wheels all travel at the same speed, feeding the yarns to the machine.
In the instant invention partially oriented yarn is fed through a positive feed device into a knitting machine. This partially oriented yarn, which will hereinafter be referred to as POY yarn, is a yarn which has been partially drawn during the melt spinning step, a yarn which needs a small additional drawing step to bring the yarn to its proper strength and usefulness. Whereas conventional yarns are melt spun and taken up at slow speeds without being oriented and are then drawn from about 2 to about 5 times their original length in one or two steps to obtain desired strength and usefulness, partially oriented yarns leave the spinneret in a vertical direction and are quenched by air while traveling for great distances at take up speeds of from about 1800 to about 3200 meters per minute. Yarn taken up at this speed is partially oriented and requires only a small additional drawing of about 1 to 2 times. The additional orienting is usually accomplished simultaneously with another operation such as false twist texturing.
It has now been discovered that using partially oriented yarns with a positive feed to a knitting machine, the introduction of an intermittend drawing or stretching opertion between the yarn package, and positive take up on the knitting machine produce novel knitted products.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide method and apparatus for the intermittent tensioning of partially oriented yarn. It is another object of this invention to provide method and apparatus for producing intermittently drawn yarn for use in a knitting machine. It is still another object of this invention to provide a fabric and method for producing a textured fabric knitted of thick and thin yarn. It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method for producing a textured yarn by heat setting a fabric knitted from yarn intermittently drawn while being supplied to a positive feed device of a knitting machine with subsequent deknitting of the fabric.
Other aspects, objects, and the various advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading and study of this disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims.